Alternative Cultures

By Kelly Holderby

An alternative to making fermented vegetables with whey and salt is to use a starter culture. The brand I like is from Body Ecology and can be purchased from their site (www.BodyEcology.com).

An advantage to using a starter culture is that it contains a wide variety of probiotic strains. One in particular, L. Plantarum, is very beneficial in healing gut dysbiosis. A starter culture also ensures consistent results. The texture is crispier, and it is not necessary to pound it as much since you are adding liquid that is already teaming with probiotic activity. However, it’s not necessary to use a starter culture. You will still have a very nutrient dense product using whey and salt.

Using the starter packet can be as simple as dissolving it in a cup of water, adding a tsp. or less of honey or palm sugar to help activate it and then mix it into your prepared veggies before packing it into jars.

For additional flavor and a stronger ferment, you can make a brine using the starter culture. Using a blender, put in a chopped up Granny Smith apple, some chopped lemon (leave the peel on if it is organic) – half or a whole lemon is fine depending on how much “zing” you like. Add a small piece of ginger, about one inch. Blend this with enough water to make a thick, slurry like brine.

Add in the dissolved starter culture and then add this brine to your prepared veggies. Mix well and pack into jars.

Seven days is a good amount of time to ferment, but you can do less or more to your taste. The apple, lemon and ginger brine adds wonderful health benefits in addition to great flavor. The apple acts as a prebiotic which feeds the probiotics and gets the fermentation process started quickly.

Lemon and apple contain flavanoids which act as immune boosters in the body; helping with allergies, assisting the liver in detoxification and some say even in the prevention of cancer. Ginger is a fabulous digestive aid and anti-inflammatory. An even easier way to make a brine would be to take a few cups of the shredded veggies and blend them with water and the starter culture.